After Mahone Bay, we moved to
Aylesford south of
Wolfville, on the Bay of Fundy coast in Nova Scotia. On our second day we traveled further south to
Annapolis Royal, an important historical town in Nova Scotia's history. We first spent a couple of hours at the
Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens. This is a splendid garden run by a not-for-profit.
The first garden was the "Innovative Garden ," which shows how those with small spaces can garden successfully
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| Compatible planting of vegetables in small plot |
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| Fruit trees grown on trellises against a wall |
The roses in the rose garden were beyond their best in October, but those that were in bloom were attractive. The gardens showed roses in large beds that were planted during the French period in Annapolis Royal (Port Royal), the colonial period, Victorian, modern Canadian roses and miniature roses.
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| Miniature roses |
One of the features of the garden is the number of sculptures.
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| Fall colors |
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| Sculpture |
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| Sculpture |
One of the most interesting exhibits was "Bird Watching" by Shauna MacLeod from
Black Crow Pottery in Liverpool, NS -- 42 small ceramic birds spread throughout native plantings. It was so much fun to try and find all the birds -- we managed to identify nearly 30 birds but by no means all!
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| Can you find the bird? |
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| A ceramic bird |
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| A ceramic bird |
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| A ceramic bird |
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| A ceramic bird |
The park has a replica house of the Acadian settlers. The thatched roof was under its annual repairs before the winter set in. You can see the mud and straw that has been applied to the peak of the roof.
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| The dyke and the land behind the dyke |
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| The dyke and the land behind the dyke |
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| Looking back to the gardens from the dyke |
The Victorian gardens are unlike any Victorian gardens you have seen. It follows the formal layout of a Victorian garden. The planting, however, reflects the reality that in the Victorian period, ships from the area sailed all over the world - bringing back seeds for plants that most definitely not native to Nova Scotia. The garden has a feel of one in Hawai'i rather than the Maritime Provinces. The long days of sun in summer mean that the annuals in the garden become unimaginably large.
This plant must have been more than 20' high!
The Acadian house:
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| Roof under repair. The mud and straw is being mixed on the table. |
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| Looking out to the dyke and river |
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